Holiday Inn (musical)
| Holiday Inn | |
|---|---|
| Music | Irving Berlin |
| Lyrics | Irving Berlin |
| Book | Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge |
| Basis | Musical film Holiday Inn by the same composer |
| Premiere | Goodspeed Opera House |
| Productions | 2014 Goodspeed Opera House 2015 The Muny 2016 Broadway |
Holiday Inn (also known as Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical) is a musical based on the Paramount Pictures 1942 film of the same name. The libretto is by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. The musical opened on Broadway in 2016 after premiering at the Goodspeed Opera House in 2014.
Chris Herzberger, executive at Live Theatricals at Universal Stage Productions, who developed the musical, said that, "I ask, 'Is it a great story, one that will move me, make me laugh or cry? And will it benefit from what is unique about theater, which is the live experience?'" Much of the film score was kept, with several songs omitted, including the minstrel number performed in blackface. The creators also requested songs from the Irving Berlin catalog.Playbill reported that "so many people felt the need for this on Broadway that the show was fast-tracked. (It’s been less than three years since Holiday Inn transformed from an idea in a conference room to a Broadway bow.) Having tested the waters in a small house (Goodspeed) and in a huge amphitheater (MUNY), the show finds its middle ground on the Main Stem."Bryce Pinkham said that "We’re doing it because it's a new version, it's been adapted by our contemporaries, and we are providing audiences the chance to reflect on how far we’ve come—considering the style and manners in which the original was made and the differences we’ve chosen to make in ours."
The musical premiered at the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut, running from September 19, 2014 to December 28, 2014. The show was directed by Gordon Greenberg with choreography by Denis Jones. The cast featured Noah Racey and then Gavin Lee as Ted, Patti Murin as Linda, Susan Mosher as Louise, Tally Sessions as Jim, Danny Rutigliano as Danny and Haley Podschun as Lila. It was next produced at the The Muny, in St. Louis, from July 6 through July 12, 2015. Directed by Greenberg, the cast featured Murin, Racey and Rutigliano returning as Linda, Ted and Danny, with Nancy Opel as Louise, Colin Donnell as Jim and Holly Ann Butler as Lila. Murin noted of the new venue: "[T]he Goodspeed is notoriously tiny, a postage stamp. And the Muny is the biggest stage around."
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